Improvement in fuses for explosive shells



B. F. STURTEVANT.

SheI1Fuse- No. 35.039. A Patented July 29, 1862.

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HVIPROVENIENT IN FUSES FOR EXPLGSEVE SHELLS..

Specicaton forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,@39, dated July 29, 186;).

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Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. Srunrn- VANT, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Sta-te of Massachusetts, have made a new and useful Improvement in the Bormann Fuse for Hollow Proj ectiles for lVar Purposes; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a top view, of a fuse as furnished with my invention, the nature of which consists in arranging or constructing the flame-eductions so as to throw or discharge the flame of the friction priming or composition, when on re, in radial jets or in a continuous shower, and so that the fiame shall fall or be caused to fall upon and around the entire upper surface of the fuse composition case or cover under circumstances "only of the annular fuse composition. my invention I am enabled to dispense with l l as hereinafter set forth.

The well-known Armstrong concussioirfuse (patented in Great Britain April 10, A. D. 1858) differs from my improved Bormann fuse, inasmuch as the former contains a rotary head or screw-cap provided with but one single-jet hole or passage, by which the flame of the priming composition is directed to one spot Vith such rotary head or screw-cap, and thus avoid all its disadvantages.

. liable to be deranged by the shock of the eX- plosion of the charge of the gun from which the shell may be driven. The consequence of such a derangement is to cause the fuse to be consumed either quicker or slower than may be desirable. Furthermore, the rotary screw cap of Armstrongs fuse is an expensive addition to the time-fuse case, and therefore it is very desirable to dispense with it.

In the drawings, A is the fuse-plug, which is not only chambered, but is constructed with an annular groove, a, arranged in its upper circular face. This groove is not entirely circular, but is intercepted by a partition or abutment, b, near to which isa vent or passage, c, which extends down through the solid metal of the case and'opens through the bottom of the same. The plug A is. furnished with a male screw, d, by which it may be affixed within a shell. Furthermore, within th e plug A there is secured a chambered cylinder or plunger case, B, which is open at bottom and closed at top, except in being provided with a series of j jet-holes, e e e, which open in radial directions through its top, and are arranged closetogether and entirely around the said top as shown in Fig. 2. If desirable, these jet-holes may be so formed as to direct the llame ofthe priming when passing from them immediately against the top surface of the cap of the fuse composition. Vithin the case B there is a hollow plunger, C, having in its upper part a chamber, D, for holding friction priming or composition, which may be made of antimony and chlorate of potassa miXed into a paste with a solution of gum-arabic. A forked tongue or discharger, F, extends down from the head of the case B and into the chamber D, and has its prongs curved or bowed, as shown in Fig. 1. The friction priming or com. position is 'to be placed inthe cap ofthe cham ber D and around and between the prongs othe tongue, after which the lower end of such chamber should be plugged or stopped up. The fuse composition placed in the groove a is to be pressed firmly therein, and to be covered with a cap of metal 5 or it may be placed in a tube made to fit the groove a and to open. at or near one end into the passage c. The cap or the tube, as the case may be, is to be graduated into equal parts and numbered, so

.as to indicate the time in seconds and parts thereof which the fuse will burn and fire the powder-charge of the shell when the metal is cut through at any one of suoli divisions.

When a shell provided with my invention is placed in a loaded gun', the ois inert/ of the plunger C and the force of the explosion of the charge will cause the tongue F to be drawn smartly through the mass of priming in the chamber D, in which ease the friction of the tongue will fire such priming, which, bursting, a volume of llame will be blown with great force through the several orifices c e e. motion of the shell against the atmosphere will insure the jets of flame being burned directly upon the entire surface of the cap of.

the fuse composition in the groove a; and wherever that cap may have been punctured, the iiame will get access to the fuse composi- The v tion and set it on fire. Thus it will be seen that my invention7 while it renders the Bor- Inztnn fuse capable of being used in ritled cannon7 has important advantages over the Armformed in the part B as to discharge the anie of the priming either directly upon the entire surface of the cap of the fuse composition or so that it may be forced thereupon by the strong fuse, to which reference has heretofore l resistance of the atmosphere under circumbeen made.

My invention and what I claim consist- In combining with the channeled head of the fuse-case and the part B thereof, one or more eduction-passages, e e e, so arranged and l stances substantially as set forth.

B. F.` STURTEVANT. Vitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE. 

